New long-haul revolutionary configuration at B.Airlines

[OO-ITR]

I think the new configuration is 22/246.
OO-SFZ is still in MLA.

Indeed C22 and Y 250 (246+4 crew rest seats)

[RoMax]

Brussels Airlines leaves the on board movie selection for March up to their passengers on facebook, you can vote until December 14:
https://www.facebook.com/questions/10151140484196644/
https://www.facebook.com/brusselsairlines

[OO-ITR]

To my knowledge, SFZ has been used for the first time to NY on the 15th of December. That is the first time that an A332 was used on this route.

[RoMax]

To my knowledge, SFZ has been used for the first time to NY on the 15th of December. That is the first time that an A332 was used on this route.

Now that it has the new interior it may be better suited on some days in the winter season, an A333/A332-mix may work better in days of low demand.

[A330]

If SFZ is ready and flying, that leaves SFY as the last A330 (332) for cabin refurbishment? So 6 out of 7 look splendid?
Just in time for their next 332 or 333 if they want to announce a new destination for next summer. Curious!

[brusselsairlinesfan]

If SFZ is ready and flying, that leaves SFY as the last A330 (332) for cabin refurbishment? So 6 out of 7 look splendid?
Just in time for their next 332 or 333 if they want to announce a new destination for next summer. Curious!

New destination for next summer or winter?

[tolipanebas]

SFY is to leave for its cabin refit at Lufthansa Techniks in Malta first week of January and will be back by the end of that month, after which the entire long haul fleet will be up to the same standards.

[sn26567]

SFY is to leave for its cabin refit at Lufthansa Techniks in Malta first week of January.

I've seen the LH-Technik hangar in Malta during my recent trip. It doesn't look bigger than the one in Brussels!

[DannyVDB]

Does this mean that from February, there will be again more flights to Africa (after the reductions due to the refurbishments)?

Regards,
Danny

[tolipanebas]

Does this mean that from February, there will be again more flights to Africa (after the reductions due to the refurbishments)?

Regards,
Danny

Indeed.

http://luchtzak.be/forums/viewtopic.php ... 40#p272645

That and an 8th A330 which will come into production in June will boost available seat miles by more than 15% on long haul next year.

[sn26567]

SFY is to leave for its cabin refit at Lufthansa Techniks in Malta first week of January.

I've seen the LH-Technik hangar in Malta during my recent trip. It doesn't look bigger than the one in Brussels!

Here is some more information about LH-Technik in Malta from someone who is familiar with the site:

The LHT Malta Hangar has a size of 61.000 square meter and can accommodate 2 wide body aircraft (including painting!) and three medium haul aircraft… Specifically for the Boeing 737-3/4/500 series, Lufthansa Technik Malta offers a separate hangar dedicated exclusively to the incorporation of SB 737-53A1177 (Fuselage Lap Joint Repair) to enhance the life of the airframe beyond 50,000 cycles. Complementing the 24,000 square metres of hangar space are backshops for Composite, NDT, Sheet Metal, Paint, Cabin Seats and Upholstery work. I don’t know a hangar who has that huge capacity here in Belgium/Brussels Airport

[RoMax]

That and an 8th A330 which will come into production in June will boost available seat miles by more than 15% on long haul next year.

Besides the changes from airlineroutes as from February, a quick check in amadeus for May and again for June to see the difference between these months in weekly frequency:
- Abidjan: 6 -> 7
- Banjul: 4 (no change)
- Bujumbura: 2 (no change)
- Conakry: 3 (no change in May-June, but of course, that's currently 2 weekly, going up when combined with DKR again)
- Cotonou: 2 -> 3
- Douala: 4 -> 5
- Dakar: 6 -> 7
- Entebbe: 3 (no change)
- Freetown: 3 -> 4 (just like Conakry currently still 2 weekly, but going up to 3 when combined again with DKR early 2013)
- Kigali: 4 -> 5
- Kinshasa: 6 -> 7
- Lomé: 2 (no change)
- Luanda: 2 (no change)
- Monrovia: 4 (no change)
- Nairobi: 3 -> 4
- Ouagadougou: 2 (no change)
- Yaounde: 4

So from the May to June period there seem to be some extra upgrades that weren't mentioned before (I don't know if this is the final shedule?). I don't know how this compares to S12, but I can think of some nice upgrades like Cotonou (has been 2 weekly since the start in 2010), Freetown (up from 2 weekly now to eventually 4 weekly in S13), Conakry (has been 2 as long as I can remember, but also going to 3, but due to the combination with DKR I assume there will be no extra capacity?), Dakar (daily again). On the other side Bamako left the summer-shedule some time ago (as it will stop very soon), Bujumbura was 3 weekly in S12 and now remains 2 weekly it seems, Kigali goes up to 5 weekly, but Entebbe stays low with 3 weekly.

But are there (besides the extra US-flights) more new things planned for the summer?

[RoMax]

Brussels Airlines showed their new interior to East-Africa now their A332's also have the interior.
http://wolfganghthome.wordpress.com/201 ... n-product/
I also read something about Uganda where the also presented the new interior in front of the important people of the industry in Uganda.

[tolipanebas]

The heavy investment in the new long haul cabins is paying off:

In the latest edition of the global STAR ALLIANCE passenger survey, SN reached the number 1 position in terms of longhaul passenger satisfaction, beating carriers like SWISS or Singapore Airlines.

[RoMax]

The heavy investment in the new long haul cabins is paying off:

In the latest edition of the global STAR ALLIANCE passenger survey, SN reached the number 1 position in terms of longhaul passenger satisfaction, beating carriers like SWISS or Singapore Airlines.

Yes, some days ago I found an article about Global Traveller I believe (the magazine that awarded SN in 2012 with the best wines in Business Class). There they ranked 2nd for overall catering and in the top-10 for some other categories. But that was still september or so, so long before all aircraft were fitted with the new interior (and part of these top-10's are made out of passenger surveys).

So they must be doing 'quite' good recently. And frequent flyers must have noticed the huge step forward they took, that may have helped them to the first place (because pax can compare). And to the US they take it up against DL and 9W and to a certain amount even UA...and as far as I know SN's product is by far the best on the US-BRU market.

[Bralo20]

The heavy investment in the new long haul cabins is paying off:

In the latest edition of the global STAR ALLIANCE passenger survey, SN reached the number 1 position in terms of longhaul passenger satisfaction, beating carriers like SWISS or Singapore Airlines.

This however says something different?:

http://www.starallianceemployees.com/ne ... ef5b2986c4

On long-haul routes, Air New Zealand and SAS were named as the best. Air New Zealand was also pegged as having the best inflight meals and beverages. Avianca-Taca was named as having the best inflight entertainment. The best overall cabin comfort accolades went to Air New Zealand and SAS.

[tolipanebas]

Note that one is about COMFORT, the other is SATISFACTION: these are actually 2 different categories of the same survey.

[OO-ITR]

where is the link to this article? I don't see anything about SN...

[RoMax]

where is the link to this article? I don't see anything about SN...

Is it public anyway, except for some key results mentioned in the article above? After all, big part of that survey is just for Star Alliance and the airlines itself to know how good or bad they are performing.
If SN performed well in a certain category, that may have the spread under the SN employees internaly (maybe they'll also say something about it in the next inflight entertainment magazine, as they often do when they scored well on a international survey/award)?

[RoMax]

For the second year in a row Brussels Airlines won the Global Traveler award for "Best International Business Class Wines On the Wing" and they also won the "Best Champagne International Business Class" award. SN serves 'Laurent-Perrier Brut, NV' in their Business Class, considered by the jury as the best of all champagnes served in international Business Classes.

Brussels Airlines’ climb to again become the highest-scoring Business Class Wines on the Wing entry began with its Laurent- Perrier Brut as the top-scoring Champagne in its class. It was, in fact, the top-scoring Champagne of all Champagnes entered in this year’s contest. For the airline’s catering managers, Philippe Mortier and Johan Duwijn, the win “motivates us more than ever to continue our wine selection strategy.” That strategy is to select three family types of wines — French, both famous and lesser-known châteaux; international wines such as Italian, Spanish and New World; and a surprise wine of the month. The airline also features one Belgian wine. In all, Brussels Airlines pours 4,000 bottles of wine each month on its long-haul service. The carrier also considers feedback the crew receives from passengers. That feedback helps the selection process by offering a glimpse at how passengers experience the wines.

http://www.globaltravelerusa.com/wines- ... wing-2013/